PRESS: El Al threatens strike over Sabbath flight

7 December 2006

El Al Israeli Airlines is locked in a dispute with the country’s powerful ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, which has threatened a boycott over flights on the sabbath, The Guardian reports Thursday. The row broke out after a labor dispute prompted stoppages across the country last week.

As the dispute wound down, El Al flew a number of planes on the sabbath to transport passengers who had been stranded. Several senior rabbis immediately complained and threatened a potentially costly ultra-Orthodox boycott.

Private negotiations between the national carrier, which was privatized less than two years ago, and some senior rabbis are thought likely to lead to a compromise, the paper reports. ——-